RAWALPINDI - A two-day conference on “Understanding Laws for Minorities, Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities in Pakistan” was held at Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU) here on Thursday.
The conference was organized by FJWU’s Department of Gender Studies in collaboration with Human Rights and Minorities Affairs, government of Punjab. Dean Faculty of Law and Shariah and Law Prof Zia-ul-Haq and Senator from Balochistan and Member Standing Committee Human Rights Suriya Ameer-ud-Din were the guests on the occasion while DGS Chairperson Dr Rukhsana Hassan and a large number of students also attended the conference.  In the preliminary session of the seminar, Humaira Zulfiqar, Lecturer of DGS, gave the overview of the programme and explained the objective of the workshop.
The workshop comprised two interactive sessions - one for the faculty and the other was for the students. The training session focused on disseminating knowledge regarding to the constitution of Pakistan and the rights given to every citizen of Pakistan within the framework of constitution.
The DGS has been running a lot of projects in collaboration with different organizations like Red Crescent Society, USAID and Department of Human Rights and Minorities Affairs, the government of Punjab.
While addressing the audience, Prof. Zia-ul-Haq shared his views regarding pluralism. He said that there were varieties of peoples and different opinions existed and for the peaceful environment in the country, it’s mandatory that we have to respect each other’s opinion and faiths. “Islam is a true religion and respects all the other religions. We need not only to create awareness among the people but also to promote cooperation in the society,” he added.
Senator Suriya Amir ud Din also shared her views regarding our attitude towards the minorities and stressed that we should follow the policy of peace, tolerance and respect for human beings. The session was followed by an interactive question answer session.